miss_harriet

Thanks redwing, I am close to Nottingham/Derby so Milton Keynes would be quite far to go, do you know of any good breeders abit closer to home?

Aubiose it is then! I just have to try and be patient for a few months now! I'm sure i'll be straight back on these forums when the time comes for more advice (and to show you some pictures!) Thanks again

Thank you all so much that has helped me a lot For the base my thoughts at the moment was to slab the area and then add either wood chips or Aubiose then border the area to stop it going everywhere (as best i can anyway!) I understand with aubiose you have to keep the area very dry so perhaps wood chips may be the way to go? (any other ideas welcomed!) I dont suppose anyone has dealt with/heard of sunnyside poultry have they? i contacted them regarding gold lace wyandottes as they are only about half an hour away from me and they have some at the moment but said they cant guarantee whether they will have some in spring (i will have to keep my fingers crossed!)

wow thanks both of you, such a wealth of knowledge on here! I may stick with a couple of wyandottes if they would be a good breed for a beginner and then as redwing suggested have a couple of good egg layers like a sussex as well The first wyandotte that caught my eye was a silver laced one that i saw on these forums, i tried researching breed temperament/ how good they are for beginner chickens but didnt have much luck and that is when i discovered there were so many other beautiful wyandotte varieties! i love the gold and silver laced ones and the silver pencilled ones, i never new chickens could be so beautiful! I will have a look at the other varieties you have mentioned too redwing I have yet more questions! (i do try research things on the internet but i find this forum so much more helpful) Is there much difference between the bantams and the large fowl or is it mainly just down to size? do they lay a similar amount of eggs (the bantam eggs just being smaller?) and would 4 LF be too cramped in the cube run (with the supervised FRing on evenings and weekends) Sorry for all the questions i just want to get things right Thanks again for your invaluable advice

Thank you so much for all the replies (and happy new year to you all!) I am probably getting a green cube chrissie (very excited about it!) I think bantams would sound like the best idea for me from what you have all said, the reason i wanted to add a couple of hybrids was so i would still have eggs through the winter but i dont have the room to house them separate, If i went down the hybrid route would it be better to have large fowl then? Also how big (or small as the case may be!) are bantam eggs or does it depend on the breed? Im hoping to get all chickens on the same day if it is possible sonya as ive heard this will be easier with introductions? (i dont want to rock the boat too much if i can help it with being a complete novice!) I will have to try and control morehens until we move house in the distant future but i am not sure how successful this will be, It's hard enough now controlling myself to wait until spring when we have sorted our garden! Thank you again for all your advice

P.S. Forgot to mention are there other breeds that are better for beginners that look similar to gold laced wyandottes?

Hi I am new to the forum (sorry if this post isnt in the right place or has already been answered) I am hoping to get chickens (and a cube!) in the spring when we re-design our garden and have a feeling i will be asking a lot of questions in the process! (you are all very knowledgeable and just reading the forum posts has given me a lot of insight into keeping chickens) I was thinking about getting around 3-4 chickens, I dont want too many because our garden at the moment isnt the biggest but I do like the cube with it being off the ground and feel the run is much more spacious than the classic, they would be in the cube and extended run during the day and then have supervised FR in the evenings and then at weekends. Anyway! I was thinking about getting a couple of hybrids and a couple of pure breeds at the same time (wyandottes have me hook line and sinker because they are so pretty!) Would it be ok to mix two hybrids with two wyandottes? would bantams be better with hybrids or not? (im not sure of the size difference between them all, pics would be a great help if anyone has any) and what are wyandottes like temperament wise? Sorry for all the questions, i have hundreds more! Any feedback would be really appreciated